Chenault of Amex, Duke of Devonshire: Scene Last Night

The Duke of Devonshire knew that
gilding the top of the urns on the facade of Chatsworth, the
English estate in Derbyshire that has been in his family since
1549, was tacky.

“It’s historically correct but vulgar,” the duke said
last night of the recent applications of gold leaf, making the
estate glitter in the sun. “What the neighbors thought 300
years ago, I shudder to think.”

He did it anyway, which was just one of the reasons he was
honored last night with the World Monuments Fund Watch Award.

In the somewhat gilded ballroom of the Plaza Hotel, the
duke sat at a long banquet table covered with mirrors and
flickering candles -- real ones, not battery-operated -- with
Kenneth Chenault, chief executive officer and chairman of
American Express Co. (AXP), who received the Hadrian Award.

Chenault said he is a fan of the temples of Hercules and
Portunus in Rome. Henry Kissinger said he liked the sculptures
of the pharaohs, glowing in the light, at Abu Simbel in Egypt.

Also in the room: Marilyn Perry, who led the fund for so
many years and introduced the Hadrian Award, and Eugene Thaw,
the art dealer.

The main course, lamb loin en croute, had the very British
side of creamed leaks. It was not English service exactly, but
it was done speedily, which at a gala means everything.

Marriage Ties

The duke ate while sitting between the president of the
fund, Bonnie Burnham, and Caroline Kennedy, a relative by
marriage: Kennedy’s aunt, a sister of her father, married the
duke’s uncle, as Kennedy herself noted when she delivered the
tribute to the duke.

“He collects two of everything,” she said. “Two tubes of
toothpaste, two drawings by Raphael.”

The duke is in that rare position of being able to afford
two of everything. He said the family has never accepted outside
help to do work on the estate.

Such assistance from the World Monuments Fund and Britain’s
National Trust has saved many other houses.

The World Monuments Fund in particular has helped with
restoration work at Strawberry Hill, the gothic castle built by
Horace Walpole in Twickenham outside London, and Stowe House, in
Buckinghamshire.

Historical Accuracy

The Cavendish family has long held the title Duke of
Devonshire. Family members are sticklers for historical
accuracy, yet they embrace change. Chatsworth has a Facebook
page and a Twitter account. It has even had a three-episode BBC
series billed as a “reality show.” One episode featured the
annual litter pick.

“People want to know how the houses worked,” the duke
said, explaining some of the popularity of “Downton Abbey,”
which he has never seen.

(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the
arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions
expressed are her own.)